Four years after he filed a case alleging that Sanjay Leela Bhansali had stolen his story to make the film Guzaarish, writer Tabish Romani tasted victory when he was paid a compensation of Rs 3 lakh by the filmmaker.


Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan in a still from the film, Guzaarish

In 2010, the writer had filed a complaint with the Film Writers Association (FWA). Six months after the film was released, FWA's Dispute Settlement Committee had asked Bhansali to pay the writer Rs 10 lakh as compensation.

Kamlesh Pandey, general secretary of FWA, recollects that the appellate board found many similarities in the two scripts. "These were beyond mere coincidence and the board ruled in favour of Romani, but Bhansali moved court which redirected him to FWA. He eventually decided to make an out-of-court settlement where he paid Romani Rs 3 lakh."


Sanjay Leela Bhansali awarded a writer Rs 3 lakh compensation as an out-of-court settlement